This invention relates generally to pedals for use on bicycles and the like, and, more particularly, to clipless pedal/cleat assemblies in which a cleat attached to a rider's shoes can be releasably secured to a pedal.
Clipless pedals of this particular kind commonly include forward and rearward cleat retainers mounted on the pedal's upper side. These cleat retainers are configured to be forcibly retractable apart from each other, against the yielding bias of a spring mechanism, to receive and releasably secure forward and rearward projections that are part of a cleat attached to the sole of a rider's shoe. The rider can release the cleat and shoe from the pedal simply by rotating the shoe by a predetermined angular amount, about an axis perpendicular to the pedal's upper side. This causes cam surfaces on the cleat to engage the forward and rearward cleat retainers and forcibly urge the cleat retainers apart from each other, against the yielding bias of the spring mechanism, to release the retainers' retention of the cleat.
Many pedal/cleat assemblies of this kind provide a “float range,” which is an amount of angular rotation that the rider's shoe can have without disengaging the cleat from the pedal. This reduces restrictions on the natural rotation of the rider's leg during pedaling, and thus reduces the possibility of injury. Prior pedal systems of this kind typically have provided float ranges as high as ±7.5°.
In the past, the float ranges of pedal/cleat assemblies typically have been fixed, but in some cases could be adjusted. In general, however, provisions for adjusting the float range have not been entirely satisfactory. In some cases, the adjustments could be made only in large increments, while in other cases, the adjustments have been difficult to perform.
It should, therefore, be appreciated that there is a continuing need for an improved pedal/cleat assembly in which the assembly provides a float range that is easily and precisely adjustable. The present invention fulfills this need and provides further related advantages.